Wool-cutting machine



J. W. DAHL ET AL.

WOOL CUTTING MACHINE Filed Aug. 2'7 1920 Feb. 3, 1594a.

JOHN VJ. DAHL, OF ltiE-LROSE, AND EEVJARD D. HOEGAN, 0F QUINCY, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO SEVERE! MILLS CO, 0E BCSTOE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

WOOL-CUTTENG MIACHINE.

Application filed August 27, 1920.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN 1V. DAHL and EDWARD D. MORGAN, respectively a citizen of the United States and a subject of the King of Great Britain, and residing at Melrose, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, and at Quincy, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful improvements in iVool-Cutting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide a machine which may be used for cutting wool, as delivered in the fleece, into relatively short lengths. in fact, the object of the invention is to provide a machine which may be employed as one of the instrumentaiities in the process of treating wool described in our co-pending application Serial No. 106, 156, filed concurrently herewith. As explained in said application, to which reference may be had, it is desirable to cut the fleece wool into fibers of relatively short length, say from one and onehalf to three inches. There are certain grades of sheep in which the fiber grows from six to twelve inches in length, according to the part of the body to which it is attached. Such wool, as grown upon the sheep, becomes impregnated and matted with grease, suint and many different foreign substances, so that it is Cll'lllOHlt to handle and to cut. The present invention, as indicated, consists of a machine by which this cutting of the greasy matted wool may be easily accomplished.

On the accompanying drawings,-

Figure 1 represents in side elevation a machine embodying our invention.

Figure 2 represents a longitudinal vertical section through the same.

Figure 3 represents the machine in plan view with the protective hood or casing removed from the knife.

Figure & is a detail view illustrating the arrangement of the cylinder knives in relation to the stationary knife.

The frame-work of the machine may be formed as desired. It is illustrated, however, as consisting of two end frames 10, 10, which may be suitably braced together, and which support a rigid cross bar 11 upon which rests a stationary shear blade 12. Any suitable means may be provided for effecting the removal of the stationary blade Serial No. 406,455.

for grinding purposes or to permit its adustment relatively to the bar 11 on which it is supported. For cooperation with the stationary blade, we employ a rotary cutter indicated as a whole at 18 and securely mounted upon a shaft 14 journaled in the end frames 10, 10, by any suitable form of bearings. secured to the rotary cutter, this depending upon the speed at which the cutter is rotated, the diameter of the cutter, and the desired length of staple of the cut wool. As shown, however, the rotary cutter is provided with three blades 15. The body of the cutter is recessed as at 16, the bottom of each recess being curved and at its median line approaching the shaft 14. One end of each recess is formed by one of the knife blades. Each knife blade is located in a socket 17 and is rigidly secured in place by bolts 18 and nuts 19. In effect, the cutter body may be considered as having three arms which extend substantially from end to end of the cutter body and are connected by integral disks 20, 20, as shown in Figure 3. Thesedisks form the end walls of the recesses 16. We regard the provision of the knife body with these recesses as important, as it permits the matted wool to be fed the desired distance across the edge of the stationary blade 12 before it is severed by one of the blades of the rotary knife.

Because of the character of the material being cut, a shearing action thereon is desirable, and, consequently, each knife blade 15 is preferably arranged at an angle to a line on the periphery of the cutter parallel with the axis, so that, as each blade 15 approaches the stationary blade 12, the cutting action will progress from one end to the other of the coacting blades.

The Wool may be fed to the action of the cutters just as it comes in the. fleece, or the fleece may be more or less separated and forked apart before it is fed to the cutter. In any event, however, means must be provided for feeding the staple uniformly to the action of the cutting blade. For this purpose, we. employ a feed table 21 and a co-acting feed roll 22. It will be understood, of course, that the feed table may be of any desired length upon which the operator may place the staple and feed it along until it is gripped by the feed roll, or, if desired, supplemental feeding Any number of blades may be mechanism of any suitable sort may he used for carrying the material along the feed table until it reaches the grip of the feeder roll 22. The feed table is illustrated as being provided with side boards and as being supported by a brace or bracket 24. The feed roll 22 is preferably provided with a plurality of points or pointed projections which may be conical or pyramidal in form, and which are arranged in staggeredseries, as indicated at 25, 26 in Figure 3', so as to ensure that the staple will be properly penetrated, gripped and fed to the action of the cutters. If desired, these points or projections may be formed on the peripheries of separate rings or disks clamped together and secured upon a transverse shaft 27. At the ends of the roll, there may be flanges or disks 28 which are slightly greater in diameter than the pointed portions of the roll, and which fit closely within the side boards of the feed table. The feed roll is so mounted that it rests by gravity on the material being fed so that it has a yleldmg pressure thereon. For this purpose, the shaft :27 is journaled in two angular arms 29, 29, said arms being themselves pivoted on a shaft 30, which latter may be journaled in bearings 31 on extensions 32 from the frame-work. The braces or struts 2d, hereinbefore referred to, act as supports for these extensions 32. The shaft 30 acts as an intermediate shaft for the purpose of transmitting power from the cutter shaft 14 to the feed roll shaft 27. To this end, the shaft 14 and the shaft 30 are provided with pulleys 33, 3d, on which a belt 85 is stretched; and the shaft 30 has a sprocket wheel 36 from which power is transmitted to a sprocket wheel 3? on the feed roll shaft 27 by a sprocket chain 38. In order that the sprocket chainmay be kept taut, one of the arms 29 is angularly disposed as shown, and at its angles or corners is provided with a take-up or tension idler roll 39 which may be adjusted bodily to vary the tension on the sprocket chain. The feed roll is prevented. from descending so far as to engage the feed table, by the en 'agemcnt of the arms 29, 29, with stops 40 formed on the frame, as shown in Figure 1.

Power is transmitted to the rotary knife shaft Li, which is the prime power shaft of the machine, by belt pulleys which may be driven from a cminter-shaft or from a separate motor as desired. V] e have shown this shaft as being provided with a loose pulley 4-1 and a fast pulley 42, to either of which a suit-able belt may be shifted. e regard it as desirable to employ in connection with the shaft a heavy momentum wheel as to ensure the severing of the staple when the knives come in contact therewith. Wool is difiicult to cut, and, unless the momentum wheel is employed, the rotary knife itself must. be of such size and weight as to afford the necessary momentum to ensure the severing of the staple.

Practical experience with the use of a machine as herein illustrated has demonstrated that it is entirely satisfactory for the purposes herein mentioned.

lhe staple, which is severe-d by the knives, is thrown downwardly along a curved apron A and may be received in any suitable receptacle or on a conveyor as desired. The knife itself is preferahly protected by a cover comprising a movable section lli which may be swung to the left in l!" ure 2 so as to rest upon a stop 4:? and thus expose the rotary knife for the removal or sharpening of the blades or for cleaning the knife from accumulated staple and is supported, when swung over the knife, out of contact therewith, by a stop pin with which contacts an extension 51 of the section l6.

W hat we claim is l. A machine of the class described comprising cutting mechanism, a feed table leading to said mechanism, a shaft beneath said feed table, arms pivoted to said shaft, one of said arms being angular, affeed roll journaled in the" free ends of said arms, means to drive said mechanism, means to drive said shaft from said mechanism, a sprocket chain for driving said roll from said. shaft, and a chain tightener carried by the angular portion of said angular arm.

2. A machine of the class described comprising cutting mechanism, a feed table ng to said mechanism, a shaft beneath feed table, arms pivotedto said shaft, one of said arms being angular, a feed roll journaled in the free ends of said arms, means to drive said mechanism, means to drive said shaft from said mechanism, a flexible connection for driving said roll from said shaft, and a tightener for said connection carried by the angular portion of said angular arm.

in testimony whereof we hai e aflined our signatures. 

